Over The Wall, the charity that provides free residential camps for children with serious health challenges, has received £50,034 from Simplyhealth to fund a camp for child siblings with caring roles and responsibilities.

As a part of the long-term partnership developed between Over The Wall and Simplyhealth, this donation will allow 70 children that are siblings of a child with serious illness, to have the experience of a life-time.

Over The Wall’s camps are designed to enable children to reach beyond the perceived limitations of their illness and rediscover a whole new world of possibilities, helping to build their confidence, self-esteem and social skills.

The camp Simplyhealth has funded will take place in 2019 and will specifically focus on enabling the siblings of children who have a serious illness to enjoy a memorable, fun and empowering experience.

Kevin Mathieson, the CEO of Over The Wall commented, "Often, when a child has a serious health challenge, siblings must adopt a caregiving role which can inevitably lead to them missing out on critical parts of their childhood such as socialising with other children. As well as this, they can also experience emotional pain, isolation, sadness, anxiety, and even guilt. We are incredibly grateful for this generous donation from Simplyhealth, which will enable 70 children to leave their responsibilities behind and have the time of their lives."

Roger Cotton, Head of Charitable Giving at Simplyhealth, said: "Young carers make significant sacrifices at an important time during their own development. We hope the camps for siblings of children with serious illnesses will provide a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with their own wellbeing and spend time having fun with others who take on a caring role.”

www.otw.org.uk